All's Right With The World?
by spriteh
Summary: My first fanfic ever - takes place instead of the events in EOE; finally updated - pls r+r
1. A New Arrival

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or concepts of Neon Genesis Evangelion. They are owned by, among others, Gainax and ADVision.  
  
  
Note: This is my first Evangelion fanfic (my first fanfic ever...); so don't be too hard on me. It takes place instead of the events portrayed in the film (the 3rd Impact and so on...) Well, I hope you like it.  
  
  
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Episode 1:  
  
The darkness is suddenly pierced by a group of circles of light.  
Flat grey monoliths appear in each circle; each has familiar words on it, declaring that this is a gathering of SEELE.  
  
SEELE 01: A new problem has arisen  
  
SEELE 09: Yes  
  
SEELE 07: What is to be done?  
  
SEELE 01: Ikari will object to any intervention by us  
  
SEELE 02: It matters not - we will proceed as planned  
  
The lights fade and the room is left in darkness again.  
  
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Major Misato Katsuragi flicked her collar up to keep out the cold as she stood on the tarmac of the airfield. She waited impatiently for the arrival of the new "Tactical Consultant" from the UK. She had disagreed at first with the necessity of his arrival - he would be taking over form her in most respects - but then she had realised that since she had no say in the matter, she might as well get on with the job of greeting him.  
  
She knew little about the new addition to their group, except that his name was, ... what was it ... Corin Butler she saw from the unhelpfully thin dossier in her hands. That and the fact that he had trained with some of the military units in the UK. This should be interesting, she thought.  
  
After what she felt was an intolerable wait after the touch-down, a tall young man of about 26 strode out of the plane and quickly looked around before descending the stairs. As he approached, she saw that he had shortish, blonde hair that had obviously been dyed (it was probably brown originally, she thought) and was wearing slightly baggy blue denim jeans and a large red jacket that was zipped all the was up and so hid whatever he wore underneath. He walked with an air that suggested that he knew he had every right to be there, and no-one could possibly stop him.  
  
When he got to where she was standing, Misato stepped forwards and said, "Welcome to Nerv; Mister Butler isn't it? I'm Major Misato Katsuragi."  
  
Nodding in acknowledgement, he replied "Major. I'm Corin Butler, and its good to be here at last. By the way, I was told that it was going to be cold here ... ?" At this last remark he casually unzipped his coat, which turned out to be fleece-lined, this then revealed that he was wearing a thin grey top that was obviously the fashion in the UK. What caught Misato's attention most was the sight of a pistol butt in a holster at his side. Realising what must have caught her attention, he flipped the pistol out of its holster and presented it, the butt facing towards her; "I assume you will want to take care of this until my clearance is confirmed?"  
  
Misato was surprised by his boldness, and replied coldly "Yes; I certainly would. I'm surprised they let you on the plane with it." With that she turned around and began to walk away with no indication that she cared whether he followed her or not.  
  
Despite her apparent cold attitude towards him, he hurried after and decided to try to break the ice, "Major, please, call me Cor. Everyone does." Silence apart from the hurried footsteps of the pair as they walked down the long, empty corridor. "I'm sorry if I offended you." he offered when they arrived at the pair of large double doors that were the entrance to the lift down to the main facility inside the GeoFront.  
  
"It's like I'm talking to myself here" Cor thought as they entered the lift and began the long descent down. "I really screwed up that introduction. To think I'm going to have to work with this person..." The rest of the trip down to Nerv was silent, only the sound of the lift moving in the shaft could be heard.  
  
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Cor stood in the middle of Commander Ikari's office, at what could be described as at attention, waiting for Ikari to finish whatever it was he was doing in the next room. The minutes ticked by, but Cor's disciplined mind was still preventing him from becoming affected by boredom. At times like this he relied on his military "experiences" to get him through. He just "zoned out" and let his mind wander. He couldn't understand how some people couldn't just stand still for a little while.  
  
The silence was broken when Gendo Ikari, Commander of the Nerv site in the GeoFront, stormed in. "He is obviously unhappy about something", Cor thought, but he kept it to himself.  
  
After sitting down at his desk, Ikari looked up at Cor and said "So, Mister Butler, have all the arrangements been made?"  
  
"I believe so Commander - in return for materials, technology and information regarding the Eva project, we will provide you with the extra funding and personnel required for this facility to be independent of the SEELE committee." Cor replied.  
  
"Excellent."  
  
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Standing outside the door to Commander Ikari's office, Cor paused for a second to recompose himself before setting off to solve his other problem.  
  
After wandering around for what seemed like an age without seeing anyone, Cor was beginning to think that he had gotten himself lost. "Shit, I'm lost... first day on the job and I can't even...." At that moment a young woman in a uniform walked round the corner. As soon as she noticed him, Cor decided to capitalize on her shock at seeing a new face "Hello, I was wondering if you could help me..." (looking at her insignia) "Lieutenant ... ?"  
  
Caught off guard, she had to recover her wits before she answered the stranger "Lieutenant Ibuki Maya ... um ... Who are you?"  
  
Nodding at her he replied, "Lieutenant Maya, I'm the new Tactical Consultant. My name is Corin Butler - call me Cor. And could you tell me where I might find Major Katsuragi?"  
  
Stunned by his forthrightness, she took a while to recover her wits this time, but managed to say, "Um, I'm not sure where she is right now... I think she might have gone home."  
  
Sensing that she was a bit intimidated by the six foot four stranger that had confronted her in the corridor, he changed his tone to sound a bit softer. "Well could you tell me how to get to the control room then? I seem to have gotten a bit lost on my first day"  
  
"Um, ok..." She managed to reply before indicating the direction they were going to take "If you'll follow me..."  
  
"Thank you so much" Cor added in his softer voice before following her up the corridor.  
  
"Well, it looks like the other problem will have to wait" he thought with a smile.  
  
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Cor was in his new room. It was in the GeoFront because, due to the recent destruction of Tokyo 3, there was not much left for him to stay in.  
  
He was glad that the walls of his new home were soundproof and most people around here could not understand English. It meant he could play his music. Very loud. It relaxed him, helped him think, which was surprising because most people couldn't concentrate with any noise in the background. He looked around his new home; it was still pretty empty because all his stuff would arrive on the next plane from the UK. Along with the other things he needed for his mission. He almost felt sorry for people like that Lieutenant he met earlier... Their quiet little life was soon going to change. And he didn't know whether it would be for better, or for worse.  
  
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The light of a new day washed over Cor as he stood alone on the shores of the new lake caused by the destruction of Tokyo 3. He breathed deeply, and felt almost sad that the tang of ozone had still not completely left this place where so many people must have died. His quiet reverie was ended when he heard quiet footsteps behind him. He tried to guess who they would belong to. They were not particularly trying to be silent, so he wasn't worried. They were close together, so it was someone shorter than him - "Not that that rules many people out around here" he thought - it sounded like a woman's tread, so he decided that it was probably that Major Katsuragi coming to check up on him or something. He turned round.  
  
And was wrong. Standing completely still, staring at him in an unnerving way was a young girl. She had oddly blue hair, he thought. "Hello? Can I help you?" he said "Are you lost?" he asked in his soft voice he used when he wanted to sound kind.  
  
The young girl replied in a flat and barely audible voice, "No."  
  
"Oh..." Cor was taken off-guard by the girl's attitude. He hadn't expected that answer. Switching back to his normal voice, he decided to force an answer, "Who are you?"  
  
"I am the First Child. Who are you?"  
  
That was a surprise to Cor; he had heard that the First Child - Rei Ayanami he remembered - had been horrendously injured, if not killed, in the battle with the second last Angel when she had self-destructed her Eva and created the very lake they were now standing next to. This child did not appear to have any sign of injury on her. "Well then," he thought, "Lets see what we can find out shall we?"  
  
"I'm the new Tactical Consultant at Nerv; my name's Corin Butler." After waiting for that to be digested he added, "Now that we've been introduced, could you tell me why you don't look like someone who took the full force of an exploding Eva at point-blank?"  
  
"Why are you here?" came the reply.  
  
"I already told you - I'm the new ... Look, why don't you stop bothering me and go back to the GeoFront?"  
  
"The angels are gone; I am not needed there anymore. Not until the end."  
  
"And what is that supposed to mean?" This Rei was beginning to annoy him. "Get back to the GeoFront."  
  
At that, Rei seemed to lose interest in this newcomer and turned to walk away. Cor watched her disappear into the distance. After she had gone he said to himself, "That is one strange child ... " After pondering that for a while he set off towards Nerv. "I need to get a grip here."  
  
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	2. Test Day

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or concepts of Neon Genesis Evangelion. They are owned by, among others, Gainax and ADVision.  
  
  
Note: This is my first Evangelion fanfic (my first fanfic ever...); so don't be too hard on me.  
  
  
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Episode 2:  
  
"So what am I going to see here then?" Cor asked the kind Lieutenant he had met yesterday. The control room was humming with activity, but he was an oasis of calm as he stood there quietly.  
  
"Well, Eva Unit Zero was completely destroyed in the battle with the Sixteenth Angel, so we need to test the reconstruction."  
  
"I see. Why don't you just make a new one?"  
  
"We need to keep the main part of the previous eva, because making a whole new eva is very difficult - we originally made a great number of evangelions, but only a very few survived..." Cor thought he heard a note of sadness in her voice as she turned back to the console in front of her.  
  
Cor's thoughts were interrupted by Major Katsuragi saying, "Mister Butler - here's your new security card and your firearm. Your clearance has been confirmed, but I still haven't got a full personnel file on you. I'll need to talk to you about that later - after the tests."  
  
"All right. I'll stick around and tell you what I can, but you should know that there are some things that I can't tell you..." replied Cor with more than a little smirk on his face.  
  
At this, Misato's eyes narrowed and she returned to her place in the control room.  
  
"Damn. Still frosty..." Cor said to himself, "At least I'm having more luck with this Lieutenant Maya."  
  
Looking around the control room, Cor saw two other people on the same level as himself and Maya; both male Lieutenants, one with short black hair, and one with long brown hair. They were both hard at work, but the one with the black hair seemed to be doing more than what was required for the tests - it looked like he was accessing information... "Oh, well," he thought, "It's probably normal - I am the new guy after all." He decided to ask the Major about it later.  
  
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The tests began with Eva Unit 01 being launched - after he asked her, Maya told him that this is so that if anything goes wrong, Unit 01 can try to restrain the other eva. After that, the insertion of the entry plug into Unit 00 took slightly longer than it had for Unit 01; Cor assumed it was to be careful and make sure that everything was all right. "Makes sense," he thought, "you don't want a huge armoured killing machine going berserk in what's left of the city..."  
  
The armoured form of the new Eva Unit 00 stepped out of the launch bay on the surface, and Cor was impressed. He had seen pictures of the old Unit 00; he recalled that it was first orange, and then recoloured blue after the battle with the Fifth Angel. Oddly, they had kept the basic shape, but almost returned to the original colour scheme. Cor thought it looked strangely menacing - it was orange, but the arms and tips of the shoulder blades were jet black. The hands were orange, and upon closer inspection, Cor noticed small bits of white on the arms as well as under each rib.  
  
The eva was put through various tests, and through it all Cor could see, via a view screen on the wall, that the pilot - that strange girl from the edge of the lake - looked impassive and not troubled at all by the new eva.  
  
"The pilot of Eva Unit 01 looks a bit stressed" Cor commented to Maya.  
  
"Well, that's because when we tested Unit 03, an angel infected it and took control - Shinji was forced to watch the dummy plug system destroy it." Again, sadness was in her voice. "The pilot was very injured in the process..."  
  
Seeing that Maya was upset by this, Cor quickly changed the subject, "So what's going to happen in the test then?" While waiting for the answer he thought to himself, "Shinji Ikari - the Third Child - the Commander's son. Interesting."  
  
Maya hesitated to recover before answering, "The eva unit will be tested on a variety of things; mobility, accuracy with a weapon, basically what it will need to do in battle."  
  
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Shinji was sitting in the entry plug of Unit 01, observing Rei in Unit 00 undergo the tests. His mind kept skipping back to the tests of Unit 03. Touji. The Thirteen Angel. How his father had used the "Dummy Plug" to destroy the berserk eva... Rei...  
  
Suddenly, the world around him went dark. "Misato?" he asked, "Anybody? ... My eva has gone dark." No answer... As suddenly as it had gone dark, the world around him flared into light. A figure appeared before him. It looked familiar, but the bright light behind it obscured any detail.  
  
"There you are my precious..." It said in a quiet voice.  
  
The light around it faded. The figure resolved into a person. A person he knew.  
  
"Mother?" Shinji felt a wave of happiness overcome him. He ran towards her, but the figure receded and he came no closer.  
  
"You have been hiding behind the shadows of your broken soul."  
  
"What?"  
  
Suddenly Shinji was engulfed in the most agonising pain he had ever felt. His throat felt tight. He felt his heart stop beating in his chest. "Mother?? ... Why??" he gasped at the figure.  
  
"Can't you feel the pain?" came the emotionless response. Despite the feeling that his heart had stopped, it felt like fire was flowing through his veins.  
  
"Can't you feel the pain?"  
  
Shinji fell to the floor and began to cry. He spoke out loud what came to his mind.  
  
"I'm just a boy..." "Why??" "Of course I feel the pain."  
  
"Good" said the image of his mother with a smile. "You will understand."  
  
"I feel the pain..." "I'm just a boy..." "Feeling pain means I'm alive..."  
  
"Yes" the smile on his mother's face widened. "You are ready."  
  
With that the world exploded around him again and he fell into unconsciousness. With no pilot to control it, the eva slumped to the ground.  
  
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Back in the control room, chaos reigned. The shock of Unit 01 just going offline like that was amazing; everyone had been focused on Unit 00, so when Shinji's lifesigns had stopped suddenly, the room erupted into panic. The Major was shouting questions and orders, the three Lieutenants were frantically answering questions and obeying orders and trying to work out what was going on. While trying to keep out of everyone's way, Cor looked up at Commander Ikari. "He hasn't even twitched. Why doesn't he care about what's going on?" he said to himself.  
  
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The total panic took a while to die down; after the readings on Shinji returned it was a matter of securing the two evas and then finding out how Shinji was. Rei in Unit 00 carried Unit 01 and its pilot back into the GeoFront, where the technicians swarmed all over it to release the entry plug and find out if Shinji was alright. After a tense few minutes in the control room, the message came back that the entry plug had been successfully removed and the boy was unconscious but all right and had been sent to the infirmary.  
  
After a quick check that all was well in the control room, Cor accompanied Misato to the infirmary. It was a plain, white room that smelled of antiseptic and cleaner. The nurses worked on the prone form and after a time, came out to the corridor where Misato and Cor were waiting.  
  
"He's going to be alright. I can't see anything physically wrong with him - he's simply unconscious and we'll just have to wait for him to come round. I've put him on a drip for nutrients so he probably won't be any worse for wear when he comes round."  
  
"Thank you, we'll stay here for a minute if you don't mind." Misato replied. The nurse nodded and walked off, while Misato walked to the window and looked in at the still form of Shinji on the bed.  
  
"You really care for him, don't you?" Cor asked.  
  
"Yes. Him and Asuka are the only real family I've got."  
  
"Asuka? The second child?" he asked. "The German one - she from the reports she sounds like a bitch. I wonder if the time in that coma did her any good?" he thought.  
  
"Yes. She might be along soon if she can be bothered..." Cor thought he detected a hint of sadness in the Major's voice at that remark. Sure enough, after a while, the halls erupted to the noise of Asuka's arrival.  
  
"So where's the great Third Child then??? He's gone and got himself hurt again hasn't he???" the sarcasm was evident in Asuka's voice as she burst in.  
  
"Obviously not then..." thought Cor.  
  
"Asuka, don't be so rude - you were in this situation not so long ago" Misato rebuked, "Shinji was by your bed everyday."  
  
"Don't remind me" - was that a slight shudder at the recollection Cor wondered.  
  
Spinning round to face Cor, "And who are you???" Asuka shouted at him.  
  
"I'm the new Tactical Consultant here. My name's Cor Butler."  
  
"Tactical Consultant? What is that supposed to mean? What do you do here?" came the suspicious response.  
  
"Asuka, it doesn't concern you. Stay and be quiet or go and do something useful"  
  
At this, Asuka grunted in disgust and stormed out as loudly as she had entered.  
  
"Thanks for that Major. She seems a very vocal person. By the way, where is your doctor? Those people all looked like nurses to me."  
  
"Yes they were - Doctor Akagi is ... unavailable at the moment"  
  
"Unavailable? At a time like this?" The, noticing the look on her face "What's wrong? You are allowed to tell me you know Major - I have the highest clearance if that's what you're worried about."  
  
"It's not, but I guess I might as well tell you anyway - you're bound to find out on your own at some point..." after a pause to compose herself, Misato continued "A little while ago Doctor Akagi took Shinji and myself into Central Dogma."  
  
"The deepest place in the GeoFront. The Vault if you like...?" Interrupted Cor  
  
"Yes - she showed us what was down there. We weren't supposed no know. Especially not Shinji..."  
  
She trailed off and Cor tried to get her back to the point "Weren't supposed to know what?"  
  
"What was down there..." The Major seemed to be in an almost trance-like state now "She showed us the eva graveyard, and a room - it looked like Rei's room."  
  
"The First Child. What about the room? What else was there?"  
  
"Rei's room. The so-called dummy plug system" At this, the major fell to her knees and started sobbing. "They were smiling. And laughing. Smiling and laughing all the time."  
  
Cor knelt down beside her grabbed her face to look into her eyes "Who were?" She continued crying, so he shook her and repeated the question "Who were? Major?"  
  
"The dummy plugs. They laughed and smiled all the time! Even while she killed them! Rei... So many Reis..."  
  
Cor didn't understand what she was talking about. He shook her again "Major? Tell me!"  
  
Misato stopped crying and looked up into his eyes "Rei... She's a clone. They use clones of Rei for the dummy plugs." She started crying again and satisfied that this was all he was going to get out of her, he put her head on his shoulder and let her sob.  
  
He went through it in his mind. It made sense now - the child he had seen had not shown any sign of having recently been blown up. She hadn't answered his first question, and had in fact created many more for him. He resolved to ask Commander Ikari about it when he next saw him. He would have to tell him - it was part of the deal. And about two hundred extra reasons to stick to that deal were going to be arriving sometime tomorrow.  
  
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Now before you all start shouting at me about Misato going ooc in front of the new guy - stick with me - I'm gonna talk about that in the next episode. 


	3. Loose Ends

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or concepts of Neon Genesis Evangelion. They are owned by, among others, Gainax and ADVision.  
  
  
Note: This is my first Evangelion fanfic (my first fanfic ever...); so don't be too hard on me.  
  
  
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Now, it might seem to be getting a bit lime-flavoured, but I'm trying not to make it too dodgy.  
  
Episode 3:  
  
Misato was kneeling on the floor of the infirmary, crying, with Cor's arms around her. She felt safe. She felt stupid.  
  
"I'm fine. Really." she said as she pushed Cor away and wiped the tears from her face, getting up as she did so.  
  
"You didn't sound fine to me a little while ago..." came the reply. While still kneeling on the floor, Cor looked up into Misato's eyes, searching for any sign of what she was really feeling.  
  
Seeing what he was trying to do, Misato looked away - she didn't want to show any more weakness. After clearing her throat, she said ""Well, there's no real reason for you to stay here any more... I'll see you later about those personnel files." She turned to walk away, but Cor got up and stopped her leaving.  
  
"No." He said in a firm voice "We'll talk about it now." he changed to a less firm voice, "Or we'll never get it done" he chuckled.  
  
Misato paused in the doorway, the only sound being the drone of a fan in one corner. In the time it too her to respond, Cor took a deep breath. It tasted of antiseptic. The taste was oddly refreshing after the heat of the Major's sobbing form pressed against him. "Come on. Loosen up. You need to talk," he thought, willing the Major to stay and talk. It would take her mind off things. He wasn't happy that he hadn't got the answer to the question he wanted, but the Major seemed more important right now.  
  
She seemed to come to some kind of decision inside herself; "Fine. But not here..."  
  
Cor slipped smiled. "Great. Where? My place or yours?" he sniggered.  
  
"Well I don't have an office in the GeoFront, so..."  
  
"I do," Cor interrupted, "We can go there if you like."  
  
"Fine" came the slightly depressed-sounding reply "but don't try anything funny." Her voice was firmer on the last statement than for anything else, so Cor tried to alleviate any fears she might have.  
  
Cor threw up his hands in mock horror "Never!" But when he saw that his attempts to lighten the mood were ineffective against whatever had got the Major so down, he gave up and led the way "It's this way."  
  
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He led the way through the bleak corridors of the GeoFront in silence. "Well, I guess she needs some time to think..." he thought as they stood in the lift facing the closed doors. The Major was standing stock still, not looking sad, but rather looking "focused" or determined. The lift stopped at the right floor and he stood aside to let the Major out before leading the way to his 'appartment'.  
  
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"Well, here we are" he said as they arrived at his door and went in. "Sorry about the mess, but most of my stuff hasn't arrived yet. It's due to come in tomorrow with the rest."  
  
Misato's head looked straight at him. "The rest of what?" - Damn, she's definitely focused all right.  
  
"The other personnel that are coming in as part of the arrangement with Nerv" he hoped she'd take that as explanation; she didn't need to know everything quite yet. He waited a split second before trying to change the subject, "well, shall we get on with these problems you have about my personnel file?"  
  
It seemed to work, because she shook her head slightly as if to clear her head and launched in to the questions she had.  
  
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Misato didn't quite know whether to trust this new guy yet - she had gotten caught off guard and had used him as comfort, but she distrusted anyone she didn't have the full story on. She decided to start with an easy question to try to get him to open up, "So, it says here you trained with some British military units. Which ones?"  
  
"Well, I'd say those would be the ...err... the Para's, Marines, Engineers, and 22 Regiment Royal Logistics Corps... oh, and I started off in the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment way before second impact - those are plain heavy infantry." She thought she almost saw a smile flicker across Cor's face with the second-to-last, but she couldn't be sure and was a bit rushed scribbling it down on a notepad, so after she had finished writing, she went straight onto the next question.  
  
"That's quite a bit for someone who's only 26. Also, it doesn't say here that you are a serving member of the military..."  
  
"Well, no it doesn't. If you must know I'm not, strictly speaking, in the armed forces; I'm a contractor for the MOD. I was in the infantry though as I've said, and the training periods weren't full tours of duty..." it sounded to Misato that she had touched on a sensitive subject, so she decided to force the issue.  
  
"So, if you're not in the military, but are instead a "contractor"; what are your duties?"  
  
She was satisfied to see an uncomfortable look in his eyes as he answered, "Mainly I mediate between the MOD and others, but it's basically a desk job."  
  
"OK, well I think that's about it for now; if I need anything else I'll ask" she got up from the chair she had been sitting on and moved towards the door, a smug look on her face when she was facing away from Cor.  
  
"Well, it would probably be best if you came and helped me meet and greet the new arrivals tomorrow - I'll find you when it's time OK?" Cor called after her as she opened the door.  
  
"Yeah, sure - I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."  
  
"Bye" the sound of his goodbye was cut of by the sound of the door closing as she walked back to the lift to head home. "Well, I think I got just what I needed from that." she thought.  
  
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As the door closed behind the Major, Cor fell back onto the bed and ran his hands through his hair. "Damn. I hate to deceive these people; I mean I didn't lie, but she didn't get what she thought. It's a damn shame it's the only way." he said out loud before turning on the music and closing his eyes.  
  
He thought about Lieutenant Maya. He remembered how they had talked for quite a while in his first day. And then again for ages before the tests earlier. He thought she was beginning to like him. He decided to try his luck later in the night; she seemed lonely after all, he reasoned.  
  
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Deeper inside the GeoFront, Kouzou Fuyutski walked into the dimly lit room. He stopped about halfway between the door and the large wooden desk that was the only piece of furniture. Behind it sat his superior, Commander of Nerv, Gendo Ikari.  
  
"You wanted to see me?" he asked politely  
  
"Yes," said Gendo without looking up, "SEELE is becoming suspicious; they have demanded my presence each day since our new 'friend' arrived." he folded his hands and looked straight at Fuyutski.  
  
"What do you intend to do? You made the deal to gain independence form SEELE... Surely you didn't expect them to sit back and let you rebel?"  
  
"No. They will try to stop us, but the British will defend this facility at great cost to themselves."  
  
Interrupting, Fuyutski sought clarification from the younger man behind the desk "They are arriving tomorrow?"  
  
Unperturbed by the interruption, Gendo continued "Yes - they will arrive tomorrow and will take up the defence of the GeoFront from a ground assault."  
  
"And when SEELE attacks? You know they will."  
  
"Then the British will surely lose many men."  
  
Fuyutski could detect no emotion from Gendo, so decided to ask the question that mattered. "And when you are finished with them?"  
  
The answer sent a chill down his spine, even though he knew what it would be.  
  
"Then they will all die."  
  
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The control room was quiet when Cor went in; he was beginning to notice that this place was always quiet unless something big was going on. If it wasn't for the soft tapping noise of someone typing at a keyboard, he would have thought that he was too late and had missed her. Luckily his hunch was right - he had guessed that Maya would be working at her post when most other people had gone home to sleep. She had seemed the hard-working type, so when he had got bored in his appartment, he had decided to go find her. A smile spread across his face as he walked quietly up behind her. He thought it would be a bit cruel to jump up behind her so he stopped a few meters away and cleared his throat.  
  
Despite his precautions, Maya jumped at the harsh sound and span round in her seat. "Oh! It's you! You scared me there."  
  
"Sorry - I didn't mean to," his voice showed his true concern, "I thought you might be here. I was wondering if you wanted to go out to a bar tonight for a drink. I found a good-looking one on the outskirts that wasn't damaged by the explosion..." He hoped he didn't sound too "needy", but if he did, Maya didn't seem to mind; if anything she was a little surprised.  
  
"Um... Well sure; I'd love to." A sweet-looking smile lit up her face "Just let me finish up here first."  
  
"Sure. I'll wait."  
  
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He didn't have to wait long, and they were soon winding their way through the streets of Tokyo 3 in search of the bar. They walked side by side; Cor guiding them at a slowish pace, while Maya looks up at the stars.  
  
"Clear night, isn't it?" he commented  
  
She was startled by his observation, but she recovered quickly and said, "Yes it is, isn't it? I don't see it as much as I'd like though..."  
  
"I know what you mean... Hey? Is that Orion up there?"  
  
"Yes, I think so... why?"  
  
"Orion was always my favorite constellation when I was a child; I just think that it's great that I can see it from here." He mulled over that for a second and then realised what he had just said. "Sorry, I don't know why I said that..."  
  
"No, I don't mind. It's nice to know things like that about people." She stopped and turned to face him, staring into his eyes. They stood like that for what seemed like an age; he could see the veins in her eyes and could feel the warmth of her breath on his face. It warmed his face in the slight chill of the night. It made him wonder whether he should make a move or wait to earn it...  
  
"It's probably best if I don't go for it yet..." he concluded to himself somewhat sadly.  
  
"Oh! There's the bar right there behind you." Cor broke the silence as he saw the bar over Maya's shoulder and then indicated that they should go in. She looked a bit shocked by the change in pace, but followed him into the bar, albeit slightly sadly.  
  
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The bar was not as crowded as Cor thought it would be due to it being one of the few places in the city where you could get alcohol, but it was nonetheless full enough for his liking.  
  
"Why don't you go and find us a seat and I'll get the drinks" Cor said to Maya, smiling to show he didn't feel awkward about what had happened outside, "What'll you have?"  
  
"Um... I don't really know" replied Maya hesitantly "I haven't really been to many bars before..."  
  
Not wanting to embarrass her, Cor didn't make a big deal about this, but instead said "That's OK; you like wine, beer, or spirits?"  
  
"Um...."  
  
A slight grin came to his face this time "OK, I'll get you what I'm having."  
  
"Thanks..." Maya said sheepishly and then went off to find a seat for them; Cor watched her go and then accosted the barkeeper and ordered their drinks.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Cor watched Maya raise the glass to her lips and take a mouthful. She swallowed.  
  
"WOW!! That sure is strong! What is it?!?!?"  
  
The grin returned as he said, "It's this apple brandy from Normandy in France. It's called Calvados" He waited for her to take this in and then continued after taking a drink from his glass "It is strong, but it tastes nice doesn't it?"  
  
"It sure does..." she said happily taking another drink to try to calm her nerves. "So, um, what are we going to talk about then?"  
  
At this Cor did his well-practised trick of talking to someone and thinking something different.  
  
He said "Well, whatever you like - I'm here to listen", but he thought "Not a awful lot if you carry on drinking this stuff like that"  
  
"Well, um, do you know what has happened to Senpai? She hasn't been around for a while."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Oh, sorry - that's Dr. Akagi... senpai is a term of respect." she explained in between drinks of Calvados.  
  
"Ah. Err... No I haven't actually. I asked Major Katsuragi about it today when she went to see Shinji in the infirmary, but she didn't know. I'll ask Commander Ikari tomorrow if you like?"  
  
"Thanks, that'd be very nice of you." She went to take another drink, but noticed that her glass was empty. It had been quite small to begin with, and her method of knocking back a very strong spirit had not helped its longevity. She smiled sweetly at Cor and said, "Can you get me another one of these?"  
  
"Sure" he said, putting down his half-full glass and setting off for the bar. "She must be nervous," he thought to himself when he was on his way.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
The red light of the Nerv logo shone out in the darkness, giving everything a blood-coloured tint. Dr Ritsuko Akagi sat on the chair that was the only piece of furniture in the tiny room; she was hunched over and staring at the concrete floor, thinking about why she was there.  
  
She thought of Gendo, how he always used her to replace something lost, how he used her again and again. How he betrayed her. He used the mother to create this place; she died. He used the daughter to create his precious Rei; she is imprisoned.  
  
All the mistakes that she watched her mother commit; she has committed.  
  
She had tried to be better than her mother; to succeed where she had failed, but she made all the same mistakes.  
  
Starting with Gendo Ikari.  
  
Despite the bitterness and despair she was feeling, she still felt something for the people outside.  
  
Shinji, the son of Gendo - she made him watch.  
  
Misato, her friend - she made her know the truth.  
  
Maya, her protégé - she hoped she wasn't doing anything foolish.  
  
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Cor sat looking at Maya sitting across the table. Although to use the word "sitting" was probably a bit generous. After he had got her another drink she had sent it down in one and after trying to talk for about ten minutes, she was now utterly drunk. As they would say in Britain, "Smashed" in fact. He decided she'd had enough.  
  
"I think you've had enough of that now," he said as he reached over and picked up the empty glass in front of her "Time to go home"  
  
"Ho ... Home?" came the groggy reply.  
  
"Yeah... home. I'll help you back."  
  
"Where's home??" a lop-sided grin came to her face at this  
  
"You can remember where you live can't you?" Cor asked her incredulously "Because I have no idea..."  
  
"Err.... no."  
  
Slipping back into English momentarily, he said "Great. Not only do I have to carry her back to the GeoFront; I've also got to take her to my place. At least I cleaned it up before I left."  
  
He got up and went round to the same side of the table as Maya and helped her stand up. "Well, I guess you'll have to come back to my place then."  
  
"Oh, don't worry; I can find my way home." She said, tripping over the table leg as she tried to walk away.  
  
"No... I don't think so. You're coming back to my place. You can sleep this off there until you can remember where home is..."  
  
With this he put his arm around her shoulders and helped her out of the bar. After a few hesitant steps, he realised that she could never make it back to Nerv on her own, so he lifted her up into the "Fireman's Lift".  
  
Grunting with the exertion, he set off and started singing his favorite song.  
  
The sound of his English voice echoed down the streets.  
  
"A friend in need's a friend indeed, a friend with weed is better; a friend with breasts and all the rest, a friend who's dressed in leather. A friend in need's a friend indeed, a friend who'll tease is better; our thoughts compressed which makes us blessed and makes for stormy weather..."  
  
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Well; that's episode 3, and at this point I'd like to reiterate the disclaimer - I don't pretend to own any of the copyrights or trademarks in any part of this fic (except to the characters I make up); so if anyone with a right to do so objects to this I'll take it off the net.  
  
On a less serious note, I'd like to say that music is one of the things that inspired me to write this stuff, so there might be more references along those lines - and if you need any help getting the military refs then ask me. 


	4. The Morning After

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or concepts of Neon Genesis Evangelion. They are owned by, among others, Gainax and ADVision.  
  
  
Note: This is my first Evangelion fanfic (my first fanfic ever...); so don't be too hard on me.  
  
Please R+R though, because I'm getting a bit disheartened that no one has reviewed this since the first Episode... (Thanks to Harkeran Ginzoshou for his help, and STPika for a review that I had to remove after ff didn't set the updated chapter as a new chapter...)  
  
Also, *text* = thoughts, while "text" = speech.  
  
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Now, it might seem to be focusing a bit on the relationship between Cor and Maya, but I'm trying to get back to the original plot. Oh, and my pre-readers asked me about the song at the end of the last episode, so I'll tell you what it is; "Pure Morning" by Placebo.  
  
  
  
Episode 4:  
  
  
The soft light of the new day filtered in through the window, and fell across the sleeping form of Maya Ibuki. She lay still for a while, still half asleep, before mumbling something and rolling over onto her side and hugging the blankets close. A smile came to her face as the memories of the previous night came to her. Then it was replaced by a terrible headache and the hazy memories of what really happened. She let out a moan and rubbed her eyes before opening them. The sunlight stung her eyes so she just rolled back onto her front and used her arm to shield herself from the pain. The cloth of her uniform blocked out most of the light, but she knew she would never be able to get back to sleep, so she just lay there waiting for the pain to subside enough for her to be able to get up.  
  
When she could finally bear to open her eyes, she sat up and looked around looking for the clock that she kept next to her bed at home. She momentarily panicked, before the memory came to her; the last thing she could remember was Cor telling her she was going back to his place. That and a song in English ... she didn't know what it meant, but she knew it was Cor singing it as he carried her from the bar to his place. Wherever that is. She took in her surroundings and noticed that the light that had woken her was not from the Sun; instead in a corner on a desk next to a computer was a vertical lamp that seemed to be mimicking the rise of the Sun, slowly increasing the output of the light that it gave out, bringing it up to the level of the main lights that had just come on.  
  
Seeing that she was obviously in Cor's apartment, she yawned and rubbed her stomach; she was hungry. Luckily the pain in her head had subsided enough to let her get up and stretch her legs, but there was still an annoying throbbing just behind her eyes. "So this is a hangover then," she said to no one in particular. She winced slightly as the pain increased a bit, but it was just enough to make her careful not to say anything unless she had to.  
  
She suddenly wondered, *If I'm in the bed, then where's Cor?* so she walked over to the door. It was plain white along with everything else in the room, *He obviously hasn't got round to decorating yet,* she decided. The door was easy to open and she stepped cautiously through it; on the other side was the main part of the apartment. A dining table, sofa, TV, and a couple of doors leading off into other rooms.  
  
And a large, padded fabric swivel-chair. The sight of Cor's reclining form in the chair made Maya stop and look for a while without saying anything to disturb the moment. *He looks so calm* After staring for a while, she noticed that his eyes were closed, which first made her think that he was asleep, but then she noticed that there were two wires leading up to his ears; he was evidently wearing earphones. She couldn't hear anything of what he was listening to, but she was a bit hesitant to move any closer in case she spoiled the moment by shocking him. But after a while of just standing there, she began to feel awkward staring at him, so decided to speak up.  
  
Remembering the previous day when he had come to the control room, she cleared her throat to give some warning before speaking up. "Um, Cor?" she said a quietly.  
  
Opening his eyes at once, he looked at her and said "Oh, good morning. How are you feeling?"  
  
"Well, err, I've got a bit of a headache, but its not too bad..."  
  
"Good. Well, I made some breakfast for you - I heard you wake up so I cooked it and then sat down here to relax. It's keeping warm in the cooker; I'll just go get it for you." As he walked off, Maya sat down at the table and reached out to pick up the earphones he had been listening to. She put them to her ears and listened... She couldn't recognise the words, but she felt a hint of recognition to the tune...  
  
------------------------------------  
  
A dark pillar appears in a circle of light. Soon it is joined by others; SEELE has convened. In the centre of the circles, a man sitting at a desk appears. He remains seated and is not phased by the angry tone of the voices emanating from the pillars.  
  
SEELE 01: Well, Ikari, you have disappointed us once more.  
  
SEELE 04: What have you to say for yourself?  
  
Gendo: I do not know what you are talking about.  
  
SEELE 05: Do not lie to us Ikari; we know that you have requested help from outsiders. The transport from the UK has already left.  
  
SEELE 07: Why do you defy us?  
  
Gendo: You are mistaken; ...  
  
SEELE 01: Silence! You have already recruited one of them and taken him into Nerv! This alone is bad enough, but you even try to leave the path that we have chosen.  
  
Gendo: I will not listen to this. I have things to attend to. Goodbye.  
  
With that the man at the centre disappeared. The pillars remained.  
  
SEELE 01: He is becoming uncontrollable.  
  
SEELE 09: He has his own plans.  
  
SEELE 10: He must be stopped.  
  
A chorus of acknowledgements came from each pillar.  
  
SEELE 01: So; it is agreed. Action will be taken.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
The light faded from around Gendo Ikari's form as he got up form his chair. His eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light in his office and he walked over to where his second in command stood.   
  
"SEELE has become restless; they demand answers?" asked Fuyutski calmly.  
  
"Yes. They are tracking the British that are on their way here."  
  
"How are the British arriving?"  
  
"In two C-130 Hercules transport planes."  
  
"Are two of those leaving Britain so rare that SEELE would be suspicious?" asked Fuyutski incredulously.  
  
"They are when accompanied by a B-52 Strato-Fortress - the British are being indiscreet..." stated Gendo calmly as he ordered one of the guards outside his office to find the one and only Briton in Nerv.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Cor was just walking into the Control Room to see if Maya was managing to keep upright after the hangover when two of Commander Ikari's guards came walking up to him.  
  
"The Commander would like a word with you" grunted one of them.  
  
"Fine, I'll be there in a minute..."  
  
"No. Now. In his office" threatened the other.  
  
*Damn - I guess Maya'll have to wait...* "Fine" Cor said, resigned to the fact that he had no choice in the matter.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
When Cor walked in he could see the Commander Ikari seated at his desk, staring at him over the top of his folded hands. Beside him stood a tall, grey-haired person who looked older, but nonetheless subordinate.  
  
"Your superiors disappoint me" started the Commander.  
  
Cor waited for a follow-up statement, but it became obvious that one was not going to be forthcoming, he answered plainly, "How?"  
  
"They are being indiscreet"  
  
"I don't understand" Cor lied smoothly  
  
"Do not lie to me, Mr Butler, we both know what I am referring to" the Commander's tone remained impassive, despite the tension in the air.  
  
His impassive tone was once again matched by Cor's, "I'm sorry if you are disappointed Commander, but I have no control over the actions of my superiors"  
  
The silence hung in the air where the Commander's reply should have been. The air was clean and dust-free, but the atmosphere was tense nonetheless.  
  
"You may go," came the reply from the Commander after he placed his hands flat on the desk and stared the Briton straight in the eye.  
  
The sound of the footprints echoed in the large empty room, and the click of the door closing resounded in the silence.  
  
"He lies" said Fuyutski for the first time since Cor had entered  
  
"Yes, but it does not matter - the British will come and SEELE will attack and then..." he paused as he considered his words  
  
"Yes?" prompted Fuyutski  
  
"And then... we shall see..." A smile returned to his face as Fuyutski left him in solitude.  
  
Just as he left he asked a question that Gendo knew was coming, but he had not expected it to come now, "How is Dr Akagi doing?" he left without waiting for a reply.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
"What do you want?" The word "you" was tainted with venom and spite as the figure kneeling on the hard floor turned to face the person who had come into their space. It would only be him. No-one else ever came.  
  
"I am here to tell you that someone else cares about your well-being" said the new-comer dispassionately, his face hidden from view by the red light of the Nerv Logo shining out into the cramped darkness of the cell. She didn't need to see his face or hear his voice to know it was him.  
  
Gendo Ikari  
  
"So one person out of the millions on this world cares? I do not anymore" The voice was full of sarcasm. *And why shouldn't I be sarcastic? Why should I care?*  
  
"Yes; one person out of millions" His voice was still impassionate as it turned to leave.  
  
"Wait. Who was it?" The woman on the ground asked in hope. *Even your worst hate can become the thing you rely on, if you are desperate enough*  
  
"I will see you again. Goodbye." He turned and left. The darkness was still torn between red and black; blood and evil.  
  
"Damn you." Ritsuko Akagi returned to her seat. The seat.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
*Dammit - I can't believe I overslept by that much*  
  
Misato swerved around another car as she sped to the entrance to Nerv  
  
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" she screamed at another car  
  
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"Oh! Sorry I'm late - I guess I must have overslept..."  
  
The grin on Aoba's face was quite obvious to everyone except Misato, who had just ran into the Control Room out of breath. Maya decided to break the silence of the lieutenants by passing along a message from Cor.  
  
"Um, Major?"  
  
"Yes?" Misato twirled around to face Maya, and gulped down mouthfuls of air while she listened. *The run up to the Control Room was harder than it would have been without those damn moving walkways...*  
  
"Erm... Cor said that you should meet him at the airfield at 1100 to 'meet and greet' some new arrivals" Maya smiled inwardly at the name.  
  
"Well the bastard could have at least called me so I didn't have to rush to get here..." growled Misato.  
  
Hyuga frowned at this 'dialogue' and asked honestly, "Who's Cor?"  
  
Maya froze. *Damn*  
  
Misato smiled. "Oh, Mr Butler is the new tactical consultant form Britain" she said casually.  
  
"So how come you know him and I don't?" continued Hyuga, sensing something interesting was about to happen - the smile on Misato's face had given that away.  
  
At this point Aoba decided to enter the conversation that was sure to be amusing for everyone. *Except Maya most likely* "Oh! So that's why a couple of the techs told me they saw you at a bar last night is it?"  
  
Maya went an interesting shade of red as Misato continued, completely aware of the interruption, "Well, it's not surprising that you haven't met him yet Hyuga - he only arrived three days ago..."  
  
*This is getting good* Hyuga decided to press the advantage provided by Aoba. "Hmm... I thought you looked a bit worse for wear when you first came in..."  
  
The pain returned to Maya's head - she didn't know whether hang-overs normally had delayed reactions like this, or whether it was her body getting her back for bringing this up.  
  
"Oh yeah - we couldn't believe that our Miss Ibuki could get so drunk" Aoba said playfully.  
  
"Drunk, eh? Well, well, well... I hope it isn't interfering with your work, Lieutenant Ibuki" Misato said in a mock-serious tone of voice.  
  
*Help me* Maya couldn't believe that this was happening. All she really wanted to do was curl up into a ball and disappear.  
  
Seeing that Maya had turned an even brighter shade of red, Misato decided that this had gone on long enough. "Ok ok... Lets get back to work," she said, "So Maya; at the airfield at 1100, yes?"  
  
Gratefully, Maya looked up at the Major and responded hesitantly, "Y- Yes... That's it."  
  
"Good - and don't you two carry on after I've left" she stared pointedly at the other two lieutenants as she turned to leave.  
  
Aoba grinned.  
  
Hyuga sniggered.  
  
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AUTHOR'S NOTES  
  
ok - a lot has happened in the time it has taken me to post this; Seldon Planner has been on at me about using his name in reviews - *sorry, but dont be so modest* - I have done some research on Lilith and found ou that Anno got ALL the facts wrong, I watched Ghost In The Shell for the first time, I mailed quite a few people, and last of all, I did soem research into Girlfriend of Steel / Iron Maiden (yes - i know they are the same now) and saw laods of "interesting" picures... *sniff sniff - is that a hint of lemon in the air?*  
  
so any comments, questions or complaints; dont hesitate to mail me - I love getting feedback from anyone (except flames)  
  
I'll try to get the next chapter up soon (without rushing), but I don't know when that'll be - damn school work...  
  
chill out - sprite 


	5. An Arrangement

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or concepts of Neon Genesis Evangelion. They are owned by, among others, Gainax and ADVision.  
  
  
Note: This is my first Evangelion fanfic (my first fanfic ever...); so don't be too hard on me.  
  
Please R+R though, even if you have already - I welcome all views/comments  
  
Now I know I haven't updated this in absolutely aaaages... I kinda got distracted by other things, but recently ppl have been bugging me to continue (I've no idea why...) so here it is.  
  
Also, *text* = thoughts, while "text" = speech.  
  
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Ok, now I'm planning to get onto the main plot, but it will still probably still have a lot on the relationship between Cor and Maya...  
  
Episode 5:  
The noise of the turboprops cutting through the air filled Cor's ears as he stood watching the two Hercules' come in to land with the lone Stratofortress lazily circling high above his head. The airfield was quite far away from the main Nerv facility and he glanced at his watch for the tenth time to see how late the Major was. *Trust her to be late - Maya told me she was like this...* he thought. Thinking about Maya made him remember back to earlier in the morning; after he had got her breakfast.  
  
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"You interested in that music?" he asked as he walked back into the main part of his apartment. He just spotted Maya putting down his headphones and didn't really mind, but she seemed to take it the wrong way and looked to him like someone had just caught her peeking into their private documents.  
  
"What? uh, I was just curious..." she blurted out hurriedly. The look on her face reminded him of a stunned animal; fragile and unsure of how to proceed. She seemed to gain some confidence as she noticed that he didn't look angry at her, and followed up with a question, "Um, What is it anyway?"  
  
"Oh, it's just something from before Second Impact; most of my music is from that era - I think it's the best time for it - after Second Impact, everyone either got all depressed and pathetic, or all patriotic to support the government that they had hated as little as a couple of months earlier..." The stunned look returned to Maya's face; Cor could tell that he had just got a bit too weird. He smiled a bit as he apologised, "Sorry - I tend to wax lyrical a bit about music - I guess it's just the way I am..."  
  
"Oh... No, it's no trouble..." Maya looked around, winced slightly due to her headache, and then looked back to Cor. She realised that this was the first time that she had been in his apartment, and decided that he wasn't that bad a guy to know. *He seems kind enough... I mean, he took me out last night, carried me back here, let me sleep it off, and he hasn't tried anything...*  
  
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Cor's mind returned to the present and he took stock of his surroundings. He was standing next to the Nerv trucks that he had commandeered to transport the contents of the aircraft back to the GeoFront; the drivers were standing in a group chatting to one-another about something - Cor couldn't quite make it out, but it sounded like it wasn't anything interesting. *Probably what was on the TV last night* he mused.  
  
As the first Hercules was about to touch-down, he looked around to see if he could see the Major's trademark blue sports car; no sign. Resigned to the fact that she was late, if not just... not coming, he turned to face the airstrip itself. The huge transport screeched to a halt on the runway, kicking up a cloud of dust and burnt rubber. He started walking towards the plane before it had stopped and approached the rear to wait for it to disgorge its cargo; he wondered if it was going to be the cargo or the men, either way he was eager to get back to Nerv and get everything sorted; after he had had a chat with the men of course.  
  
As luck would have it, this particular Hercules was carrying the men he was waiting for. He watched, almost with pride, as the hundred and thirty men filed out in pairs and formed up on the tarmac in front of him. Just as he filled his lungs with air in preparation to address the men in the classic method of shouting orders very loudly, a familiar voice beat him to it.  
  
"Right you lot; get formed up! Three ranks! That's it, just like every time - it's not that hard!" This voice came from a shortish man coming out of the Hercules at the end of the group of men; he was about 5'4" with close-cropped brown hair flecked with white. Most people would have assumed that this white was due to old age, but that didn't quite fit with the man that would be standing before them - maybe a few months older than Cor at the most, he bore signs of being battle-hardened. His uniform was crisp and his badges portrayed with pride; four in all.  
  
Once he had seen who it was who was shouting, Cor smiled and started walking towards the newcomer, shouting in mock disgust as he went, "Hey! What the hell are you doing here?"  
  
The man turned at this, and when he spotted that it was Cor who was shouting, returned the favour, "I was gonna ask you the same question - I've come to clean up this mess you've got yourself into..." Once the two men met, they paused momentarily staring at each other before breaking out laughing.  
  
Cor was the first to speak, "Jon! Good to see you again. How you doing?"  
  
"Oh, you know, good as always... So this is where they've got you now eh?" Jon replied as he looked around. "Nice... not too hot or cold, just like home eh?" he turned back to Cor and punched him in the shoulder for good measure...  
  
Wincing slightly, Cor decided that the reunion had gone on long enough and they needed to get sorted out quickly before Commander Ikari, or Cor's own superiors in Britain, got impatient - Jon could ramble on for hours if you let him.  
  
"So... let's get this show on the road then? We'll wait for the other Herc to come down before giving the pep-talk ok?" At this Jon nodded and walked off to resume his shouting at the men, while Cor took another look around for Misato's car *Damn, she should be here... It would be good if she got to see what's going to be virtually running the Nerv security from now on...*  
  
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"Damn that British bastard!" Misato shouted to no-one in particular as she raced along the road towards the airfield in her car; she was doing about 100mph and praying that no-one else was on the road. She slammed down hard on the accelerator pedal and swerved onto the other side of the road to pass the car that was coming into view ahead of her. After a few minutes more driving that would have left most people reaching for something to throw up in, the control tower of the airfield hove into view, and Misato sighed in relief as she saw a pair of transport planes resting on the tarmac; she hadn't missed them.  
  
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The second Hercules had just finished unloading the cargo that had come with the men, and after happily noting that all of his personal stuff was among the crates of equipment, Cor decided it was time to address the men. He signalled to Jon to quit shouting and when all was quiet, he opened his mouth to speak. Just as he was about to say something, a blue sports car screamed onto the tarmac, swerving loudly to a halt a few feet in front of the first of the men assembled in front of him. He felt a hint of pride that not one of them had flinched, before noticing the Major leaning out of the car grinning at him.  
  
"Not late am I?" she asked simply, hoping she had disturbed him.  
  
Making a big thing of looking at his watch, Cor replied, "No, not really - you're just in time actually. Now if you don't mind, could you move your car? I think you scared the pilots..." This last comment was greeted with slight smiles from the men; they knew he approved of their behaviour so far. Always a good thing to know from your commanding officer.  
  
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After Misato had moved her car away from the group and stood next to Cor, he finally started his talk to the men,  
  
"Right lads, first of all, welcome to Japan and Nerv; and as I'm sure you lot are used to, from now on everything you do, see, hear, and everywhere you go while on duty is top-secret. Nothing you learn here is to be communicated to someone who does not have the right clearance to know - if you have any concerns about this aspect of the job, come and talk to me. You report directly to me, Major Katsuragi here is Nerv Head of Operations, so you will obey any order from her unless it contradicts one of mine. The 'big boss' around here is Commander Ikari - anything he says, goes... and if what he says if different to what I do, then come and tell me, ok?"  
  
Pausing to be sure that had sunk in, he quickly looked at the Major to see if she had understood any of what he had just said, it being in English. Assuming from her look that she had only a vague idea, he continued with the 'non-essential matters' of the talk.  
  
"Now that I've given you the Chain-of-Command brief, here comes a friendly piece of advice; stay away from the 'local talent' if you know what I mean, we don't want any situations here - this is a purely military posting - keep your hands to yourself..." looking again at the Major, seeing that she was gazing idly into space and obviously had no idea what he was saying, he continued, "and two other things along those lines; don't try it on with the Major here, she's too damn frosty for you lot, and very important - hands off the Lieutenant in the Control Centre." This last statement elicited a couple of grins from the men. Obviously this was enough to pull the Major out of her reverie, as she had turned to look straight at Cor, and was now eyeing him suspiciously. Jon made a few sounds to get the men back in check, despite the fact that he had been one of the ones to grin - knowing Cor as he did. *Cheeky git* he thought. Cor just smiled innocently back at the Major. "Well I think I'm done here; would you like to say anything?"  
  
Rolling her eyes at him, "No I don't think so; I'm sure you've said everything that needs to be said. Not that they'd understand me anyway when I'm speaking Japanese." Misato replied  
  
"Well actually, about half of the men here can speak Japanese, albeit with quite a heavy British accent - its useful to be able to understand your superiors..." Cor said with a grin.  
  
Misato simply sighed and walked back to her car, speaking over her shoulder as she did so. "Well as I said - I think everything that needs to be said has been, so I'm going back to Nerv" *I can't believe I rushed all this way for THAT... I need a drink*  
  
Cor watched the car disappear into the distance before turning to the men.  
  
"See?"  
  
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On the way back to Nerv as he was sitting in the front of one of the trucks, Cor thought of what he had done that day; as he thought of talking Maya that morning a smile came to his lips, and it grew larger at the thought of being with her later; he had asked to come over to his apartment that evening for a meal. His day had got slightly worse with the continued frostiness of the Major towards him, but it didn't overly concern him as long as Maya was still on the go and the Major was still talking to him... Of course that was one of the problems; it seemed like she had little interest in talking to him unless she had something important to ask him.  
  
*Ah well... this place hasn't been too bad to me - no major problems so far* he grimaced internally at that bad pun. The thought of problems reminded him of something - something he needed to find out, but he couldn't quite remember what it was...  
  
As the truck passed into Nerv he was still wracking his brains to remember *Ok, I know its something important... It's got to do with Nerv... About Maya...? Or the Major...? No that's not it...... wait, I think I've got it...* his memory went back to the night in the bar with Maya; she had asked him to find out about her "sempai", Dr Akagi. He'd asked the Major about it, but she had been too distraught to get round to telling him. Gendo - ask the Commander. He smiled now that he had finally remembered and resolved to go see the Commander once he got back to the main part of the GeoFront - Jon could deal with getting the men squared away.  
  
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As Cor walked into Commander Ikari's office, he saw the old man who had been there during Cor's previous visit entering from another door and whisper something into the Commander's ear. When he was in the office before, he had guessed that this man was Dr Fuyutski, Ikari's mentor of sorts - he seemed to Cor to be a more trustworthy person, but to have little or no real power in Nerv. He was however, a more educated man to Cor's mind, and therefore a valuable resource in case the operation went bad.  
  
The room was designed to intimidate anyone who was in there - the dark red lighting and the so-called Tree of Life embossed on the ceiling coupled with the sparse furnishing of the room made for the ideal setting. Cor had been trained to use similar techniques for interrogation, and he hoped he wouldn't have to use them on this assignment.  
  
Cor reached a point in front of the Commander's desk, and since he wanted to get some straight answers and possibly put pressure on him, he stood a little closer than was expected. Ikari liked the people to be at a distance from him, alone in the centre of the room; Cor wanted Ikari to know that he was in charge of this conversation.  
  
His actions obviously had the desired effect, as when he had halted the Commander looked up from whatever he was doing and waited for Cor to speak.  
  
Seeing this, Cor began, "Commander, as the first step towards fulfilling your part of the arrangement, I would like to know two things..."  
  
Completely unperturbed by this demand, the Commander calmly replied, "And what would those be Mr Butler?" The person Cor had identified as Fuyutski was about to walk away, but the Commander stopped him with a wave of his hand.  
  
Pausing until he was assured of both men's full attention, Cor began to outline his demand.  
  
"Firstly, I would like to know where one Dr Ritsuko Akagi is. She is the head scientist at Nerv, and neither myself or anyone I have spoken to has seen her - I find that a bit odd, don't you Dr Fuyutski?" To his credit, Fuyutski showed no outward sign of either shock or anything else at this sudden question, but the commander interrupted before the Dr could reply.  
  
"And the second piece of information you require Mr Butler? What is that?"  
  
"It's quite simple Commander, I want to see Central Dogma. All of it."  
  
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"Well Mr Butler, I see you have not wasted any time in coming to me with requests after your associates from Great Britain have arrived. With regards to your requests, I see no reason for you not to know what you have asked, we do after all have an arrangement." At this the Commander un-folded his hands and smiled slightly. "Be assured that DR Akagi is quite well; she is being detained for her own safety; as for Central Dogma, I'm sure a visit can be arranged for you at a later date - I am sure you would like to organise your associates and help them get accustomed to their new posting." He folded his hands again to indicate that he had finished his explanation of the situation.  
  
Not satisfied with what had been said, Cor decided that he owed Maya more than what he had just been told, "Why is the Dr being detained? How is she in danger; Nerv is one of the most secure places on the planet, especially now." Neither Ikari nor Fuyutski seemed inclined to answer this question, so Cor pushed his luck slightly, "Then I would like to speak to her myself, to be assured that Nerv is not at a disadvantage without its most proficient scientist."  
  
The Commander's eyes narrowed every so slightly for a moment and Fuyutski looked to his superior to see what he would do. He was not disappointed; the whole affair was making him uncomfortable.  
  
"Very well Mr Butler, you may speak to Dr Akagi - but only momentarily." With this he nodded to Fuyutski. The older man motioned to Cor to follow him as he walked out through the door Cor had seen him enter through. A short corridor lit in a similar manner to the Commander's office greeted them, at the end of which was what looked like the entrance to an elevator.  
  
As Cor followed Fuyutski towards the elevator, they passed a few doors leading off the corridor, but all were closed, and most likely locked. It wasn't long before Cor was standing in the elevator alongside Fuyutski heading for the lowest floor that could be reached in this shaft. He decided to break the silence in case he didn't have the opportunity to do so later, "Dr Fuyutski..."  
  
The man who was older than both Cor and the Commander looked him in the eye and said simply, "Yes?"  
  
"We haven't been properly introduced - my name is Corin Butler, please call me Cor." He extended his hand and looked straight into the older man's eyes. A few moments silence passed before the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened; after both men stayed as they were and showed no intention of leaving, Fuyutski flashed a small smile at Cor and said simply, "I know" and walked out, leaving Cor to follow him into the antechamber that was outside the elevator exit.  
  
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The twin colours of her imprisonment shone into the darkness; red and black, all day and all night, not that she could tell the difference - it was all the same to her. She spent all day and all night just sitting in the same room, staring at the same floor or wall or ceiling; the only vaguely interesting thing there being the Nerv logo on the wall... that was the source of the red light and had got very boring after the first night. Ikari's visits were getting less and less frequent, even after he was the one who had put her here; she still enjoyed the contact with anyone, even him.  
  
The change in light was immediately apparent as the door to her cell slid open, she suppressed the urge to turn and look to see who was entering. It would be him - it always was. "What do you want now Commander?" she said in a quiet voice.  
  
"It is not the Commander, Dr Akagi," said Fuyutski after a pause and what Cor thought looked like a slight grimace.  
  
The woman sitting in the chair turned slowly to face the two people in the doorway; she couldn't understand why it was not Gendo, "Fuyutski?"  
  
"Yes, Doctor" replied the older man in a soft voice. It seemed obvious to Cor that he did not approve of the Commander's judgment in this matter. *I wonder what else goes on here that he doesn't approve of...* he thought.  
  
Dr Akagi turned back to the way she was before they came in. "Who is the other man?" she asked matter-of-factly.  
  
Cor spoke before Fuyutski could, "My name is Corin Butler, I'm the new Tactical Consultant at Nerv"  
  
He was going to continue and ask her how she was and such other pleasantries, but the doctor interrupted him, "And what does that mean? Why are you really here? No-one has such a simple purpose here at Nerv... no-one"  
  
Cor was going to look to Fuyutski to see if he should tell the Dr the truth, but decided that from what he had heard, she knew enough already and a bit more wouldn't hurt. "Very well Dr; if you must know, I am here on behalf of the British government as part of an arrangement in which we provide extra funding and defense to Nerv in return to information regarding the Eva project and connected research."  
  
"So you are here to make sure your prize possession is in one piece?" she said with her now constant sarcasm.   
  
"No... Actually I am here against the first wishes of the Commander on behalf of someone we both know..."  
  
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AUTHOR'S NOTES  
  
Well its taken me a bloody age to get this started again - I kinda forgot about it for ages, and then kept coming back and trying to write something, but it never happened. Then some ppl started bugging me about it, so I gave in and started writing.  
  
Anyway - hope you liked it, and I'll try to keep writing it for at least a little bit, but no promises, because I have a load of exams coming up...  
  
Also thx to some ppl for bugging me and prereading it  
- stpika, zirak51, brassmonki, and maybe some others too....   
  
Anyways, all reviews welcome... mail/icq/msn/aim me or just use the review board  
  
chill out - sprite 


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